Indians Prospect Insider

Indy takes three of four from Clippers
The Clippers got an early lead Monday night in Indianapolis, but too many free passes eventually caught up with starter Josh Tomlin and the host Tribe earned a 5-3 victory in the series finale.
Fresh off of a 4-RBI game, Brian Bixler kept his hot bat going with a two-run home run in the third, putting Columbus up 2-0. Indianapolis got one run...

In the 1st round of the 2010 Draft, the Indians select LHP Drew Pomeranz out of the University of Mississippi.
Ranks:
Keith Law: 4th
PGCrosschecker: 3rd (ahead of Machado)
Baseball Amaerica: 5th
Director of Amateur Scouting Brad Grant's Takes:
On Drew Pomeranz: "Drew brings a power fastball 90-95 MPH with a plus late breaking swing-and-miss curveball,...

Update 7:56 PM: Gotta say I am very happy with the Indians pick of Pomeranz at #5. They did not change their opinion of him even after all the talk the past 24-48 hours that he could be sliding on draft boards. As Mirabelli mentioned a few weeks ago, they stayed true to their approach of not reacting a lot to late risers or fallers. Choice or Sale would have also been very good picks at #5, but to...

The Cleveland Indians today announced they have activated infielder Andy Marte from the 15-day disabled list. To allow room on the 25-man roster, the Indians optioned outfielder Matt LaPorta to Triple-A Columbus.
Marte was placed on the disabled list on May 15 (retro to May 12) with a non-baseball medical issue. So far this year with the Indians he has hit .208 (5-24) with 4 runs scored,...

The baseball draft by its very nature is different from every other sport's draft.
The only draft that comes close to it is hockey. Hockey, though, is still a draft where you can consider need because of the number of players who do go straight to the pros. In baseball it is considered the exception and not the rule when a player is able to play for your Major League team within a year of...

Hagadone's Helps Aeros Earn 7th Straight Win
The Akron Aeros completed a three-game sweep of the Harrisburg Senators on Sunday afternoon, winning 3-0 at Metro Bank Park. The loss sent the Senators below .500, at 28-29, while the red-hot Aeros improved to 27-30 after their seventh straight victory.
The game was scoreless through the first four innings, before Akron (27-30) struck first...

My son put some perspective on the big baseball news of the week after Jim Joyce made the bad call to cost Armando Galaragga his perfect game when he said, "Hey Daddy, we shouldn't feel that bad. At least it didn't happen to the Tribe, like it usually does." Yes, my son, at the ripe age of eight years old, is already a jaded Indians fan.
The K-Tribe entered the week five games out of first...

It is Draft Eve and the craziness that is the MLB Draft is upon us. Here is a quick rundown of some things to know for the draft:
- Tomorrow night at 7:00 P.M. EST the draft will kick off with just the first round and first round compensation round only. The first round will be televised tomorrow night by MLB Network (coverage starts at 6:00 P.M. EST), but MLB.com will be carrying the draft...

Aeros Win Sixth Straight, Defeat Sens 9-7
The red-hot Aeros continued their recent dominance Saturday with a 9-7 victory over the host Harrisburg Senators in front of 5,073 fans. A monster seven-run fourth inning brought 11 batters to the plate and powered the Aeros attack while the bullpen held on late for the victory. It was the sixth in a row for Akron (26-30) and the second straight at...

"Minor Happenings" is a weekly column which covers the important developments and news in the Indians farm system. While most of the information in this report is from my own research and through interviews I have conducted with organizational personnel, some information in this report is collected and summarized from the various news outlets that cover each team.
This is the second part of...

It was a little less than two weeks ago where I wrote a column all about possible position player targets for the Indians in the upcoming draft. That article was rather long as it focused on seven hitters. Back then there was less consensus on who the Indians could possibly target in the draft, but now with the draft less than a week away, the possible choices for the Tribe seem fewer and fewer....

Frawley Makes Captains a Winner in 11 Innings
Casey Frawley singled home Bo Greenwell with the winning run in the bottom of the eleventh inning to lead the Lake County Captains to a 6-5 come from behind, extra inning win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Friday. The Captains lead in the Eastern Division is now four games over the Great lakes Loons who lost on Friday night.
Wisconsin...

I always try to remember that first impressions can be wrong and that you need to keep an open mind. Recently, baseball reminded me of the need to not judge in haste.
On Monday, May 24 left hander Vidal Nuno debuted for the Captains in the top of the fifth inning of a scoreless game against the South Bend Silver Hawks. Nuno, a 22 year old 4th round pick from Baker University in Kansas, replaced...

"Minor Happenings" is a weekly column which covers the important developments and news in the Indians farm system. While most of the information in this report is from my own research and through interviews I have conducted with organizational personnel, some information in this report is collected and summarized from the various news outlets that cover each team.
Change is coming. Now that...

Captains Sweep the Snappers
Jason Smit knocked in six runs and Chun Chen had five hits as the Lake County Captains swept a three game series from the Beloit Snappers winning 12-6 on Thursday.
The Snappers took a first inning lead for the second game in a row when Angel Morales drew a two out walk and stole second base. Steven Liddle followed with a double that scored Morales to make...

Triple-A Columbus right-handed reliever Frank Herrmann got the news this afternoon from manager Mike Sarbaugh that he has been called up to Cleveland. He will board a flight from Columbus to Chicago and join the team in the windy city tomorrow and be in uniform for the game tomorrow (Friday) night when the Indians take on the Chicago White Sox.
Herrmann, who just turned 26-years old last...

The Clippers keep on chugging along in first. After defeating the Louisville Bats 10-7 on Tuesday night, they now stand at 35-20, 4.0 games ahead of Toledo in the West and 3.0 games ahead of Syracuse for the best record in the IL. Tonight the Clippers got it done at the plate and managed a solid enough pitching outing to keep the game in hand.
Team Pitching: 7(7) R(ER), 9H, 2BB, 6K, 64% strikes,...

Paul Cousineau and I are back on the cyberwaves tonight with another edition of "Smoke Signals" from 9:30-10:30 PM EST. Tonight we will most definitely talk about the travesty in Detroit last night where Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game against the Tribe because of one of the most brutal calls by an umpire you will ever see. Even though it would have been at the expense...

"Indians Minor League Magazine" is a half hour program on the Cleveland Indians cable network SportsTime Ohio (STO) which airs weekly on Tuesday nights from 6:00-6:30 PM EST. The show recaps all of the highlights from the week that was in the Cleveland Indians farm system with lots of video, interviews, and in-studio guests.
The show recaps the week that was in the system and also features...

Chisenhall's Slam Helps Aeros Defeat Erie 5-1
Lonnie Chisenhall was the star Wednesday night as he hit a grand slam to power the Aeros to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Erie SeaWolves. The designated hitter

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!